Alleged Airbnb scammer Shray Goel, who was accused of using pseudonyms to double book properties and refuse refunds in a viral Vice report, was arrested last week.
Goel has been charged with wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, with a 20-page indictment obtained by The Daily Beast laying out how the self-proclaimed “visionary” real estate investor allegedly grifted millions off unsuspecting guests.
A warrant for Goel’s arrest was filed in Los Angeles on Dec. 28, with the arresting document alleging that Goel’s scheme spanned over a hundred properties throughout the country, including some California pads in rent-controlled buildings.
ADVERTISEMENT
In total, federal prosecutors say Goel used fake profiles and deception to make more than 10,000 reservations on Airbnb that amounted to $7 million in payouts.
Prosecutors described Goel’s grift as a “double-booking-bait-and-switch scheme,” in which he’d book multiple guests to stay at his properties on the same dates. The indictment says Goel would often allow the highest-paying renter to use the property and would concoct an excuse to feed the other guests—like claiming there was a plumbing issue—about why they could no longer stay in the property they’d booked.
Goel’s indictment alleges that he, along with others working under him, would contact the lower-paying renters at the last second—sometimes mere minutes before their scheduled arrival—to tell them that their booked property was unavailable for the entirety or portion of their stay. The indictment said Goel would offer to rebook those guests to an upgraded property free of charge, which many would accept without properly reviewing their new lodging.
Prosecutors said this strategy put renters in a bind, as they were forced to make a snap decision in an unfamiliar place. Those who agreed to the replacement property would likely never receive a full refund for their troubles, even if they complained immediately that their new rental was not up to par.
The indictment added that these “upgraded” properties offered by Goel and his associates were, in most cases, “inferior replacements” that didn’t compare to the properties guests had booked.
Prosecutors said Goel “profited from the scheme by running a secret bidding war to rent properties to the highest bidder.” They added that he’d keep all of his “properties in any given area at maximum capacity” and “often refused to agree to refunds for guests who were entitled to them.”
Goel is also accused of using pseudonyms and other people’s identities to list properties that were actually controlled by him.
The allegations laid out in the indictment largely mirror what was uncovered in Vice’s investigation. That article, written by Allie Conti, who was a victim of the scam, detailed how she was bait-and-switched by a property host who went by “Becky and Andrew”—a name prosecutors allege was a pseudonym for Goel.
Conti said she was downgraded from a home she’d paid to rent in Chicago for a 2019 music festival because of supposed plumbing issues. She wrote that she accepted a “grimy” replacement property—which she remained in her entire trip—out of desperation and received a partial refund that amounted to just $399 of the $1,221.20 she’d paid.
The Vice report included testimony from others who’d had similar experiences, with some losing out on thousands.
In addition to the bait-and-switch, prosecutors accused Goel of using fake addresses to “create duplicate listings for a single property, evade local rules and regulations governing short-term rentals, and control who had access to properties.”
The indictment added that Goel would create “misleading” positive reviews for his properties, pretending to be an “an unaffiliated, third-party guest who had stayed at the property.”
Vice’s 2019 report led to sweeping policy changes at Airbnb, and the article itself included a note at its bottom that stated the FBI reached out to the media company on Nov. 1, 2019.
Prosecutors said Goel’s scheme also operated on Vrbo, where he netted $1.5 million before his operation was banned from the platform in 2015.
In a statement to The Daily Beast, Airbnb said, “Airbnb is built on trust, and bad actors have no place in our community. We supported the US Attorney’s Office and the FBI throughout their investigation to help ensure accountability, and we are thankful to them for their work.”
Goel did not respond to a voicemail and direct message seeking comment, but he appeared to address his arrest in a cryptic post to X on Dec. 20, writing in part, “Yesterday was an incredibly tough day for me.”
